7 Some examples of memorable reports... Stress - My ear worm is Nathan Jones' by Bananarama. I first caught it in 1989 during my GCSE chemistry exam and have been plagued by it in moments of extreme stress since, e.g wedding, childbirth etc (6Music Text). Person Association- My earworm today is This Charming Man' by The Smiths because every time I see David Cameron, that song just appears in my head, for some particular reason (6Music s) Word Association - Michael Jackson PYT (Pretty Young Thing). On my journey, I read a number plate on a car that ended in the letters "EYC" which is NOTHING LIKE "PYT" but for some unknown reason, there it was - the song was in my head (Survey data). Recent - My bloody earworm is that bloody George Harrison song you played yesterday. Woke at 4.30 this morning with it going round me head. PLEASE DON'T EVER PLAY IT AGAIN!! (6Music s)

8 Musical media 1. Live Music (e.g. concerts or gigs) 1. Video Media (e.g. TV, film, internet site) 3. Radio 4. Private Music (e.g. in the home or the car) 5. Contagion (e.g. another individual singing or humming) 6. Learning (e.g. practising for performance or a lesson) 7. Public Music (e.g. restaurant, shop or gym) 8. Ringtones

11 Müllensiefen et al. (in( review) Why are we interested in OC trait? people with obsessive compulsive disorder are more likely to report being troubled by earworms in some cases mediations for OCD can minimise the effects (Levitin: p.151) Let s find out

12 Hypotheses People who are more musical will experience more frequent earworms (INMI) that is longer and more troubling (Beaman & Williams, 2011 Liikkanen, 2012) Individuals who measure highly on subclinical OC will experience more INMI that is more disturbing (Garcia-Soriano, Belloch, Morillo, & Clark, 2011)

22 Data Most frequent earworm tunes: Similarly successful but never mentioned as earworms:

23 Earworm classification model p (earworm =1) = 1 ( d.median i.leaps) 1+ e = Longer durations and smaller intervals make tunes sticky (maybe because they are easier to sing?) BUT results only preliminary, because: Melody only one aspect of INMI Small sample No combinations / interactions of features Different types of earworms => different structural models?

24 FINAL conclusions Musical exposure important (Sacks, 2007) that is recent and repeated (Beaman and Williams, 2010); but so is the activity of non-musical, involuntary memories State of mental arousal (wakefulness, excitement and stress) and mind wandering a possible function? (Leverhulme Grant) Individual differences in singing only predicts some features of INMI plus ease of singing may predict stickiness: activity of brain areas? Earworms may have structural melodic triggers why do our minds react to patterns in this way? Wider implications for other spontaneous cognitions (including creativity and rumination), memory processes, music perception and encoding, personality research...

25 icmpc12earworms.com

26 THANK YOU IF INTERESTED: MUSICPSYCHOLOGY.CO.UK QUESTIONS?? This project was supported by:

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28 Why do we care? Spontaneous Involuntary Cognition mind popping (Christoff et al. 2004; Klinger & Cox, 1987) Up to 40% of thoughts (McVay et al. 2009) One of many; but accessible, classifiable & regular Window into our unconscious, memory processes, mental control abilities... Ok we are interested! So what do we know?

30 INMI scale The INMI-Q comprises 7 items The length and frequency of INMI episodes, their subjective unpleasantness, and the frequency with which an individual tries to get actively rid of his/her INMI, the effort necessary for controlling them, their interference with other tasks, and the degree to which an individual feels their INMI experiences are worrisome Maximum-likelihood principal factor analyses Final four-factor solution = 48%: INMI Frequency, Length, Unpleasantness, Disturbance (intrusion and concern)